“It’s practically impossible to look at a penguin and feel angry.” Maybe you heard the story on the Weather Channel, or on the news (see ABC story here). Due to an oil spill off the coast of New Zealand, endangered penguins need an unusual kind of help. Penguin Sweaters!

Why would penguin sweaters help wildlife during an oil spill? This is truly a case of “cute comes to the rescue.” The yarn store SKEINZ sent internet instructions out to the world, hoping that knitters could create sweaters for small penguins who could suffer damaging affect from ingesting oil while preening. Knitters answered the call, and a sea of sweaters were mailed to NZ. Here is my contribution – on its way to the Kiwis!

More Details;

“On Oct. 5, a cargo ship ran aground in New Zealand, pouring 350 tons of oil into the ocean. The accident has been regarded as the country’s worst environmental disaster in decades. More than 1,000 sea birds have already died as a result of the spill, including birds from the country’s native blue penguin population. Oil can be extremely harmful to penguins, whose feathers are very different from other birds. They have very dense and tiny feathers of different lengths that stick onto them like Velcro, creating a waterproof pseudo-wetsuit.”

Even when they are busy on maternity leave, teachers at GCS keep up their sustainable practices! Check out baby Gabe and his groovy mom, Ms. Freireich! She has two great tips for Green Moms; don’t leave the water running when washing bottles and dishes, and walk wherever possible rather than taking transportation to save energy! Thanks for this Teacher Feature!!

In a notoriously hard to garden patch of Brooklyn, Ms. Lesio has a green oasis. With a little compost tea, and a lot of hard work, she has a lawn with gorgeous flowers for summer relaxation. Thanks for sharing your garden pictures with the Gremlins!

Single Use Plastics are an incredible source of waste in our society. Plastic sandwich bags, shopping bags, bottles, clips…the list could go on and on. Many New Yorkers have tried to get rid of single use plastics in their lives, either by using a different product (like a re-usable shopping bag) or by re-using something that was only meant for one use. Mr. Latimer has taken this to a new level with his well worn Metrocard! Ask him to show it to you if you see him in the hallway. He explains his philosophy about using things well here.

“When I was a child, it was the bane of my existence to be dragged all over New England by my parents, looking at “old junk.” Over the years, however, it taught me to appreciate anything that was useful and well crafted. I hope to become a useful antique some day.”

This year our Green Gremlins, Greenhouse, Faculty, and Lower School classrooms started and maintained 6 vermicompost bins. At the end of the school year, we brewed “compost tea” – a combination of rich compost castings and sugar that build a natural fertilizer and anti-microbial liquid for gardens and lawns. 10 faculty and family gardeners took some home. We look forward to finding out how their seasonal “crops” develop with their added boost! Here’s a photo of one of our gardens – Ms. Adler’s tomato plants in New Jersey! Beautiful! It is a pleasure to see that our snack food wastes are being “recycled” to help grow more food.

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